


Life-time

by senatoramidala



Category: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-24
Updated: 2016-04-24
Packaged: 2018-06-04 05:08:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6642541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/senatoramidala/pseuds/senatoramidala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Goodbyes and departures were never easy for Anakin Skywalker.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Life-time

"Senator Amidala?" Padmé's formal title tasted a bit odd on Anakin's impatient lips but he made himself pronounce it quite clearly and loud enough for everyone in the room to hear it. Every senator turned at the sound of Anakin Skywalker's voice. Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, Fang Zar... Everyone. Except Padmé Amidala, whose beautiful face was still reflected in the great panel of transparisteel overlooking the smog-shrouded cityscape of Coruscant.  
The Senators acknowledged the Jedi with a single respectful nod of their heads. Anakin feared he had to repeat himself in front of them, as he felt the irritation starting to build up inside him, but finally Padmé turned to meet his gaze too.  
Her eyes were unflinching and her face motionless. She was wearing her Politician Look, as Anakin himself had bitterly dubbed it. She always wore it during the long and tedious meetings of the Senate.  
He wondered how she kept up with them. Well, actually he wondered how she managed to bear all the dull paperwork, the wicked political maneuvering, the endless meetings, the fruitless negotiations, and still look so beautiful. Much to Anakin's chagrin, Padmé didn't seem overjoyed to see him at all. How could she? There were people staring and they were in broad daylight, after all.  
Oddly enough, Padmé's icy mask only made her more impressive in his eyes, though.  
Actually, there was something different about her today. Something that almost threatened to crack the perfect mask of marble hiding her true face.  
For a split second, Anakin thought he glimpsed a flicker of temper blazing through her eyes.  
Clearly, she was still upset about what he had said that morning, when they parted.  
"You have interrupted a very crucial meeting, Anakin."  
"Have I?" He paused for a second, flashing that mischievous grin of his. Padmé knew in that instant - in case she hadn't realized before then already - that whatever Anakin had come to relate, it couldn't be a pressing matter. He was way too confident and high in his spirits for anything serious.  
  
"Whatever it is, I shall hear it once this meeting is-" She had started, impatiently, eager to resume the seat that Anakin had interrupted.  
"I apologize, my lady, but it cannot wait." The Jedi Knight ruled, looking around at the other Senators in the chamber. They all looked puzzled and slightly amused by the exchange.  
After all, every Senator knew better than to speak in such tones to a Jedi Knight as powerful as Anakin. Everyone in the entire Galaxy knew better than to do so. Except Padmé. But then again, she was the only one entitled to such liberty because she was loved to bits by the most powerful Jedi to ever live.  
Anakin truly wished the Senators would get the hint and leave them alone, even if it meant angering their own fellow politician. Bail Organa, who was always the most tactful and quick in the Senate, rose to his feet first. Anakin regarded Organa suspiciously, as the others mimicked him, like a flock of robed birds.  
"Surely our meeting can be put off to another day, if all the Senators agree? There's no need to taint our good relations with the Jedi Order for something so little."  
His companions echoed him feebly, supporting his decision. The Senate always made decisions together, unanimously. Just like the Jedi Council. Padmé could do nothing but nod at that, her reproachful eyes pinned on their backs as they slowly went from the room.  
"I hope you are happy now. We both know you have gone out of your way for nothing, coming to see me so early in the afternoon. Shouldn't you be practicing swordplay with Obi-wan?"  
She remained still in her seat, her dainty hands tightly clasped on her lap.  
"I couldn't wait until tonight, Padmé. I had to come to see you and apologize for this morning..."  
"That was needless. Now please, Obi-wan will be looking for you-"  
"Forget Obi-wan! I know I've hurt you with my reckless words!" Anakin flared up, striding across the floor until he was by her side. He had said wretched things, things he did not mean... But he was blinded, blinded by jealousy. The Jedi knelt before her seat, and steadied her with his hands when she half-heartedly tried to get up and leave. "And I intend to atone for it."  
Padmé averted her beautiful eyes from her husband. They had been lawfully married for months now, and yet they had to be as careful as adulterers if they wanted to avoid scandal.  
"Anakin, please, rise- What if someone should walk in and find you on your knees?"  
"They could think I am offering you my life or that I'm asking you to marry me. I don't care. They would be only half wrong, anyway. Please, Padmé, you have to listen to me."  
This exchange, this speech... it all struck her as too familiar. She knew that fire, that passion in his eyes, that restlessness. She had first seen them on Naboo, two years back, when they spoke of love for the first time. Padmé had rebuffed him back then, but they were married now. In the end Anakin had had his way. No one could deny him anything. Anakin Skywalker _always_ had his way in the end.  
So she stopped resisting, or pretending to do so, and waited for his next words. Why had he shamed her with his suspicions? The slander still made her bleed in her heart of hearts.  
"I am sorry. I do not believe you capable of doing such things behind my back... _not truly_. I know that you and Organa only aim to protect the Republic's best interests, and that's why you work so hard together. That, and _nothing else_."  
  
Padmé sighed, her pride still stinging. Anakin might have completed his training as a Padawan, and successfully entered the Jedi Order, but he was still only a child at heart, quick to anger and eager to please. And yet, he had to come to grips with the truth, whether he liked it or not.  
"I will not have you questioning my long-abiding friendship with Bail, Anakin. He is the Republic's humblest servant and the wisest Senator we have, I think. I would trust him with my life."  
Anakin rolled his eyes, wetting his lips with his tongue, before he could resume his speech. "I know, I know! Just... why can't you let me come with you? I could protect you as I have always done.  
Organa might be wise, but he is no use against a threat."  
" _Threat_? On Naboo?" Padmé cracked a smile. Even in the direst situation, Anakin's naivety would always warm her heart. "We are going to inspect my people, my love, and make sure that this war has not been too hard on them, not to fight one. Palpatine is coming too."  
"An old man? You need someone who will escort you and keep you safe. Someone like me! Let me come, it will be just like the first time we were there." He pleaded, his warm breath against her lean fingers.  
How he made her wish that it were true. Everything just like the old times.  
But Padmé knew that everything had changed since then. War had changed them.  
"No, dear Anakin. I need wise friends who will counsel me in these trying times. Besides, you have your Jedi duties here on Coruscant. You have been doing so good and I just won't let you spoil it all now.   
You are the Chosen One, and we all depend on your proficiency as a Jedi. I will come back very soon, but I need you to trust me for now."  
"When?" The Jedi asked, briskly.  
Padmé was taken aback, and almost flinched. She had hoped to keep the secret from him until the very end. "A month, perhaps."  
"What? I thought it was a matter of days. What's on Naboo that requires all that time?" Anakin blurted out, disbelievingly. He rose to his feet, and suddenly he was towering over her in his full height.

"There is something you are not telling me. Am I supposed to let you go knowing this? With _him_?"  
"We are going to end the war with diplomacy and negotiations if we can, Anakin. And some things, as much as it pains me, I am not allowed to say, not even to you. Can't you just trust me this one time?" She attempted to seize his hand in hers, but even his cybernetic arm escaped her.  
"I trust you! It's him I don't trust! He has a wife on Alderaan but he never visits her? He's always here with you as if he had no life at all. And now he wants to take you to Naboo too, away from me!"  
Padmé gave up on trying to catch his erratic hands. He had come to apologize, but somehow he was only making it even worse than before. She loved Anakin with every fiber of her being, she had loved him for years, and nothing could change how much he meant to her, but she was not blind to his faults either. Anakin knew nothing of self-sacrifice, thus he was unable to recognize and praise it in others. Bail Organa had a wife whom he loved on Alderaan, a queen in her own right, but they hardly ever slept together.  
Small wonder the couple was still childless even after all those years of marriage. The Senator freely chose to serve the Republic wherever his efforts were needed, instead of coming home to a beautiful woman and a warm bed. This only made Padmé admire her selfless friend all the more, but Anakin conveniently mentioned only the unhappy and lonely wife that Breha Organa was not.  
He was born for greatness, Padmé knew, Obi-wan knew, everybody knew. He was the Chosen One, fated to bring balance to the Force. And yet he couldn't care less about greater goods and abstract concepts. All he did, he did for love of his wife, family and friends. As much as she tried to, Padmé Amidala could not bring herself to love him any less for that. Nay, she only loved him more with each passing day.  
"I love you, Anie. It will be only you, until the end of time. Even if my visit to Naboo were to last a life-time, it would still be only you."  
Anakin smiled, despite himself. He effortessly brought her to stand on her feet, and then seized her precious face in his hands, the good one and the mechanical one. 

"Whose life-time?" The Jedi brushed his lips against the crown of her head. "Because I would immediately put an end to it, and rush to take you back."


End file.
